OBITUARIES

1935 — 2021

William Otis Martin, 85, of Groveland, died May 15, 2021, at Adventist Health Sonora.

Bill was born June 1, 1935, in Lafayette, Indiana. Bill retired from General Telephone & Electronics (now Verizon) in Long Beach.

After Bill retired and moved to Groveland, he worked for Tuolumne County handling maintenance. He also volunteered with the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office in Groveland. Bill and Michalene became members of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church. Bill was a proud member of the Pine Mountain Lake Golf Club. Many of their friends will remember the Martin Monday Night Football and Super Bowl parties. Bill loved having family visits and showing them around town.

Bill was preceded in death by his father, Ralph, and his mother, Florence, brother, Bob, and sister, Pat. Michalene died in 2019 and was so missed by Bill. They had been married for 30 years.

Bill is survived by his two daughters, Joy (Richard) Lebaron and Jan (Dean) Payne Johnson; step-daughter Lynn Seymour; step-children Cindy Butterworth (Mark), Heather Villagomez and Chuck Tierney (Joyce); grandchildren TJ Ellis, Kimberly Palmer, Jennifer Perry, Joshua and Zachary Villagomez, Trevor Tierney, Brett Kovac, John Payne, Jamie Payne, Jennifer Payne, Justine Hagen, Jordan Bagnoli, Taylor and Blake Seymour. Special thanks to Bill’s friends Lydia and Allen Dugan for taking such good care of him after Michalene’s death.

A private inurnment was held May 21at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Big Oak Flat.